Sue was in her early 50s and she had asked to have a “personal reflections” video of her recorded so she could share wisdom and life experiences as a leave-behind for loved ones. When I arrived at her room, I introduced myself, set up the camera and gave her the opportunity to share whatever it was that she wanted to share. She spoke steadily for about forty-five minutes, talking about her love of life, the deep love she had for her only daughter, her appreciation for Alcoholics Anonymous and the amazingly positive impact it had on her life and her path, as well as several other things for which she was grateful. After she finished sharing what she had prepared, she asked me if I had any question for her.

I asked Sue, “If a fourteen-year-old girl walked into your room right now and asked you for one bit of advice for her to live a happy and fulfilling life, what would you tell her?”. Sue responded without blinking an eye and said, “Oh, That’s easy! I’d tell her to love herself today. You’re perfect as you are.” And then Sue went on to explain that she didn’t always understand that. In fact, she shared that for most of her life, she struggled with a severe eating disorder. Until recently, she had always felt that she wasn’t pretty enough or good enough.

It was beautiful to witness Sue achieving that level of wisdom as she approached the end of her life. For many people, they may live into their 80s or 90s and fail to realize how important it is to love themselves as they are. For Sue, that became evident.

After we finished recording, Sue expressed her gratitude for being asked that question and having been given the opportunity to add that bit of wisdom to her personal reflections video.